chris dodd, joe biden, hillary clinton just ran circles around him. and people say, well, why can't he -- at some point you just have to say, because he doesn't have his -- i mean, a great of a grasp on the issues as the people he's debating. >> that's sobering but it's true. i still believe it's the professor. >> how can you be president of the united states, mark halperin, and, i mean, and not have these basic answers? >> well, it's more than i think the format than not having the answers. he spent a lot of the evening going after mitt romney for things that he thinks he can win the election on like taxes and medicare. it wasn't like he never responded to it. >> but isn't the format in washington is that you get in a room with someone and you go at it and you try and figure it out? >> that's what we're asking. has he been too isolated? listen, we talked to him. the guy is brilliant. he really is. but has he become so isolated there's not the back-and-forth with even democratic leadership? because the democrats will tell you, he doesn't talk to them